


Confessions Like These

by darlingsdream



Series: a mixer of klance one shots [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Keith/Lance (Voltron) Angst, M/M, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27169492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darlingsdream/pseuds/darlingsdream
Summary: It's been months since Lance has heard a thought from his soulmate; but when the thought finally comes crashing onto him, he realizes something he really didn't want to.---In which Lance finally finds out who his soulmate is, and he's not sure whether he should be happy or upset.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: a mixer of klance one shots [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1520747
Comments: 7
Kudos: 311





	Confessions Like These

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys!  
> I'm going to be honest, I've been MIA from writing for a hot second. This was just a little warm up piece I wanted to work on! It's nothing too big or eccentric, but it's something!
> 
> I hope everyone is doing well during these times! <3

They were in the middle of the common room when it happened; the one clue he had gotten about his soulmate since he'd been shot into space. He was sure their soul-link had been severed seeing as it had been at least several months since he'd heard from them. Or, in a darker thought, maybe they were too late in saving the universe and the Galra had already gotten to Earth. Either way, both thoughts diminished when he felt a sudden cold wave over take him as one loud word echoed in his head in a way he knew wasn't his own thought.

**_"Voltron."_ **

He sat up so quickly at the thought that the air was knocked out of him. If he hadn't before experienced what it was like receiving one of his soulmate’s thoughts before, he would have passed it off as his own thought. He thought of Voltron every day, it was hard not to when he was quite literally a part of it. But his soulmate's thoughts were different, they left him cold and shivering and all too aware of them as soon as they entered his mind.’

"Lance, buddy?" Hunk spoke from his side before hesitantly placing a warm hand on his shoulder. Lance felt himself prickle with nerves when he realized there were several pairs of eyes on him now, all conversations pausing. 

Whoever his soulmate was, they knew about Voltron. That could mean only one thing. Earth knows what's happening outside of it's galaxy now. That could be the only reasonable explanation, because Lance knew well enough, his soulmate had to still be on Earth. 

Hesitantly, Lance looked over to Allura and Coran who stood in the middle of the room, their eyes already on him. He swallowed slowly, hands bunching up around the fabric of his worn jeans. "Um, Allura, Coran," he began with a timid voice, his tone wavering. "Does- Is there any way that news could have traveled to Earth about Voltron?" No one spoke but when he looked around the room, he realized everyone was still blatantly staring him down with the same copy and pasted confused expression.

"Where did that come from, Lance?" Pidge finally questioned before carefully dropping her laptop to the floor beside her feet. He breathed in, heavily and sharply before averting his eyes to the ground. 

"I," he paused, bringing his hand to his head. He didn't know how to explain it. He knew everyone else, with the exception of the two Alteans, experienced their soulmate's thoughts too. He knew he wasn't the only one, but how was he supposed to explain that out of the blue, after several months of being out in space, his soulmate randomly just thought about Voltron?

He tried again to speak, stumbling to find the right words. "I just... I got a..." He sighed, his chest feeling tight. "It's just, they thought of Voltron-" He pointed to his head, hoping that would be enough for them to understand. When he realized Pidge's eyes were the only ones that seemed to widen in registration to what he was saying, he decided that there was no way he could tip toe around it. 

"My soulmate," he blatantly said finally. "They were thinking about Voltron." There were gasps, and suddenly he was being pulled to his feet by Hunk and Pidge. 

"We can check Earth's stellar intercoms to see if there is any news of Voltron floating about," Allura spoke suddenly. "It's basically a scan of what you would call the internet I believe." 

No one else said anything as they all filed out and onto the bridge. Lance couldn't help the anxious feeling rising in his chest as he watched Allura tap away at a screen before an image of Earth showed up. 

He looked down to the floor, avoiding the green and blue planet he knew as his home. He missed home so badly. Hunk kept his hands around his shoulders in a soothing action, it was the only thing that grounded him as he listened to Pidge and Shiro question Allura as news articles upon news articles began appearing around them on holo screens.

The scan had taken a total of fifteen minutes before Allura was turning to them with a blank face. "Lance, there is no news about Voltron on Earth." 

Another cold wave hit him, hard. It wasn't uncommon for him to receive multiple thoughts in a day back on Earth from his soulmate. Back in the Garrison, he actually got a good amount of their thoughts a day. However, there wasn't a thought or cold wave that had hit him as hard as this one did. 

**_"Lance's soulmate has to be in space then, huh?"_ **

He knew no one in the room said anything. He knew no one was talking. But the voice in his head was so familiar and so loud it had him whipping around to face Pidge, Shiro, and Keith. 

His words were careful and hesitant as he rolled his shoulders, forcing himself out of Hunk's grip. "Did... Did someone just say something?" 

They all stood there without a word, and he realized, that was his soulmate thinking. 

His soulmate knew his name. 

His soulmate was in this room.

Suddenly the all too big room of the castle deck felt way too small.

“Lance?” Hunk prodded at his side, but to no avail, Lance was pushing himself away from him once again.

The first person he met eyes with was Pidge. Her nose was scrunched up, her eyebrows knit together in what he could only describe as confusion. When he turned to Shiro, he held a similar expression, lacking the whole nose scrunch Pidge had going on.

When he’d finally met eyes with Keith; the confusion that had a hold of his face was slowly wiping off, morphing into something that reminded Lance of a deer caught in headlights.

**_“Why is he looking at me like that.”_ **

And then, it hit him like a truck.

The voice that echoed in his head sounded like Keith’s, and yet, Keith’s mouth hadn’t opened once since he’d turned around.

Lance, for the longest time, had believed that finding out who his soulmate was would be a relieving feeling. He heard so many stories growing up of the happy meetings soulmates would have; how warm they would feel inside when it finally all came together in front of them. He wanted that. God, did he want that.

He always thought maybe they’d meet in a cafe; one of them would order a drink and the thought of their order would be passed to the other who would be standing in line with them. Or maybe, a thought about directions to a place his soulmate was going to would slip up, and he would travel as far as he could to meet them there. Or maybe, just maybe, they could strengthen their bond enough to have full conversations one day, and they would find a way to meet each other.

When he was younger, his soulmate and him were able to communicate often. That was until one day, his soulmate’s thoughts just stopped coming through.

They stopped for a while. His final middle school year was quiet and lonely, he remembered vividly. It wasn’t rare for a soulmate to try and sever a connection. Not everyone enjoyed the thought of having someone meant for them. All they had to do was, well, practically despise the thought of their soulmate and eventually their connection would seether.

Lance remembers the first day of summer right before high school, having gone a year without a single thought, when his soulmate had finally tried to project their thoughts to him again.

**_“I’m sorry.”_ **

Thoughts trickled in here and there from then on out. 

When Lance had finally gotten accepted to the Garrison, the thoughts trickled in more and more. He’d hear multiple thoughts a day, and sometimes, his soulmate would even try and project things to him. 

But his soulmate kept him at arms length ever since the period of silence. He always pushed him away when he got too close; shut him out again when it was convenient for him. Still, there were small moments when he could see openings. Moments when he could have sworn his soulmate wanted to apologize more- wanted to keep the conversations going- wanted to learn more about him- but alas, just when he thought they were on the verge of a breakthrough, he was being shoved away again.

Their soul-link was far from perfect, and Lance, he could live with that. He was just happy to have something, anything actually, with someone.

When he’d gotten shot into space, the thoughts stopped once again. This time, it didn’t bother him as much. It was easier to think about saving the universe without the “distraction,” even though never thought of his soulmate as one.

Part of him had even hoped, despite his worries for Earth’s safety, that his soulmate was tucked in hiding on their home planet, far away from the dangers that came with an intergalactic war. He hoped his soulmate had finally severed their connection for real, and that they could find happiness with someone else.

Yet in this moment, when he’d finally pieced together the fact that the voice in his head sounded identical to Keith and there was no denying it, he felt anything but relief.

_ Keith’s my soulmate? _

The thought felt foreign in his own head, Lance thought. But when he saw the panic in Keith’s eyes, he knew that the thought had been projected to Keith.

He knew it was far from the perfect response to finding out who your soulmate was; but he didn’t care. Before he could even process another thought, Lance was booking it out of the room without a second thought.

He heard a set of footsteps take after him, but he didn’t bother to turn around. 

“Lance, wait!”

***

Lance learned about soulmates when he was five years old. His older sister, Veronica, who was five years older than him, had burst through the dining room door after school one day.

He and his mother had been sitting at the dining table going through the motions of an English lesson when Veronica had practically hurtled her bag at table with the force of a quarterback.

“Vero!” His mother had scolded her, pushing out from the table with lightning speed. “What on  _ Earth _ do you think you’re doing!”

Veronica stared up at her for a moment, weighing out the options she had for responses. “I got in trouble today at school,” she had settled on before throwing herself into the seat across from Lance.

“Do I want to even ask?”

Veronica sighed, rubbing her hands across her face. “My soulmate wouldn’t stop projecting their thoughts to me the entire day,” she huffed through her hands. “I couldn’t focus at all! And my teacher yelled at me for not being able to answer any of her questions! Now I’m not allowed to have recess for a  _ week. _ ”

Lance, confused, watched as his mother rounded the table with a softer look on her face. She pulled the chair out beside Veronica and sat down gingerly, placing a hand on his sister’s shoulder.

“Did you try asking them to stop?” His mother had questioned. Vero had nodded violently at that.

“See, it’d be easier if they spoke a language I understood!” She threw her hands up into the air dramatically. “I tried spanish, I tried English, but I don’t know that they’re even  _ saying, _ it just sounds like a bunch of mumbo jumbo!”

Lance cocked his head.

_ What on Earth was a soulmate? _

There had been a moment of silence after he thought that. His sister and mother sat in silence, his mother rubbing circle into Veronica’s back while he creased the corners of the intro to English book in front of him.

That was when he got his first words from his soulmate.

**_“What’s a what now?”_ **

He had flinched at the sudden bombardment of words, feeling coolness pinch at the back of his neck. He twisted in his seat, expecting to see one of his brothers or uncles standing there, but to his surprise, he was staring down an empty hallway.

“Leandro? What’s wrong?”

“I thought I heard someone talking- It’s nothing.”

***

Lance can’t tell who took after him. He can’t even tell if someone’s calling his name anymore. The only thing that he can hear is the blood rushing in his ears as he takes another sharp turn through the long windy halls of the castle.

He doesn’t even know  _ why  _ he’s running right now. Of course, he knows it’s childish, of course, he knows he’s going to have to face this sooner or later; but it was just his first instinct.

Somehow he just knows he’s going to be reprimanded for running by Allura or Shiro. He just knows he’s going to get the whole lecture about putting the team above yourself. Honestly though, for the first time in a really long time, he doesn’t care he’s being selfish and childish.

He just needed to get away. Far away from Keith.

There was just no way he could wrap his head around it. Keith; his soulmate? The same soulmate who purposely ignored him and shoved him away ever since they were kids? The same soulmate, who for the biggest blow, was his “rival” who hated him?

Part of him thinks he should have seen it coming.

Keith hated him. His soulmate hated him. Added up pretty nicely.

Not to say there weren’t others out in the world who hated him. He knew there had to be a good dozen; he did, after all, know how to crawl under people’s skin for the fun of it.

But he was sure that there was no one who was like Keith; who fought between pushing and pulling him in. No matter what context it was in- whether they were children who spoke to the tiny voice in the back of their head, or they were garrison cadets just trying to chase a dream, or paladins of Voltron trying to find the perfect dynamic, Keith always gave him a little bit of hope before ripping it away.

Just when they seemed like they were getting close- like they were becoming  _ friends- _ like there was a chance of something other than just  _ friendship _ \- Keith came back baring arms and raising all his walls again while simultaneously pushing him away.

By the time Lance was making another turn around a corner, he finally lost his will to run. Just barely slowing down enough to not run full speed into the wall, his shoulder collided with the cool steal first.

He let himself fall against the wall, feeling more hopeless than he had in a while, getting to his knees just in time as whoever had chased after him caught up with him.

“Are you done running yet?”

*** 

By the time Lance fully understood the terminology behind soulmates, he himself was ten. His mother by this time had explained the beauty behind having a soulmate. He told him the stories of conversations she had had with his father before they finally met in person.

It was sweet.

Veronica by this time still hadn’t met her soulmate, but as it turned out, her soulmate finally did learn English. She said her soulmate had the most angelic voice. When she turned fifteen, Lance barely even spoke to his own sister because she was too wrapped up in her own head with someone she had yet to meet.

She was so happy. She felt so loved.

Lance wanted that.

Marco, his older brother who was seventeen at the time, had finally met his soulmate by this time. A slip up about a school project was shared and he had instantly recognized it as his current English project. Turned out the girl who sat in the back corner of his classroom was the one destined for him, as cliche as it sounded. It didn’t take them long to start dating after that.

Luis, his other older brother by twelve years, was off traveling the world in search of his soulmate. They didn’t have a strong connection, even as hard as he tried to help ignite it. He swore to himself he’d find them, whoever they were, wherever they were.

Lance decided his brother was a hopeless romantic after that.

But honestly, he himself wouldn’t even mind traveling the world the rest of his life to find the person who was made for him too.

Rachel, his twin sister, was finally establishing her connection with her soulmate by this time. She said they had conversations sometimes, but it wasn’t the strongest of connections either and most projected thoughts would be lost.

Lance wished he could have conversations with his soulmate.

Maybe they could help him cheat in this awful English class he didn’t understand.

He had been halfway through a vocabulary test when he decided he wanted to try and reach out to his soulmate.

He had tried projecting his thoughts to his soulmate a handful of times before; usually a quick hey or are you there. It was rare he ever got a response, and honestly, he feared he didn’t have a strong connection either to his soulmate.

It was rare he ever got a random thought from his soulmate. When he did, his thoughts usually consisted of something having to do with martial arts and foster homes.

_ Hey. Are you there? _

He sat there for a second in silence, pencil hovering over an empty line on his paper. When he didn’t get a response, a small sigh left his mouth.

_ You wouldn’t happen to know how to spell miscellaneous, would you? _

When there still wasn’t a reply, Lance started trying his best to sound out the word. He hadn’t even written down three letters when he felt a sudden chill at his fingertips.

**_“Miscellaneous? M-i-s-c-e-ll-a-n-e-o-u-s. Two ls.”_ **

He couldn’t help himself from grinning ear to ear.

_ Thank you. _

**_“Yeah, no problem.”_ **

*** 

Lance didn’t even bother to answer when he dug the heels of his palms to his eyelids. All he focused on was the rapid movement of his chest, wrecked from his unsteady breaths.

“I’m taking that as a yes,” the familiar voice replied. There was a shift beside him and he could tell that they had sat down beside him on the floor.

Pulling his hands from his eyes just the slightest, he could see just the tip of a black boot at his knee. Practically rolling his eyes, he dug his palms harder to his eyes, hoping to black out the world as much as he could.

“No offense,” he mumbled through his palms, “but you’re the last person I want to talk to right now.”

“I know,” Keith sighed beside him. “I know.”

Silence lingered between the two of them, and Lance, he prayed Keith would feel too awkward and just get up and leave him alone.

There was a reason he made a dramatic exit in the first place.

To get  _ away _ from the problem.

Not to talk to it.

“I don’t know what to say,” Keith admits quietly, just above a whisper, “but I feel like you deserve more than just silence right now.”

He scoffed at that.

Lance, for the love of everything good in the universe,  _ scoffed. _

“Wow, something more than just silence.” Lance couldn’t help but laugh. “I feel so blessed, man. What did I do to deserve this present?”

He knew it was harsh. He knew how bad he was coming off. He knew Keith would never in a million years follow him out here to  _ talk _ of all things if he didn’t actually mean it.

Nervously, he swallowed through the lump that was forming in his throat, willing it to go away. He didn’t want to cry right now. He wasn’t going to do that.

“I know I suck at this whole communication thing,” Keith admits solemnly. “But I want to try for once, if you’re willing to let me try that is.”

Out of pure instincts, Lance wants to tell him no. He wants to tell him to get his mullet ass up off the floor and leave. He knows it’s not right to do that; not right now. So, he doesn’t push Keith away, and instead, leaves his answer within the silence he puts between the two of them.

***

By the time he’s twelve, Lance and his soulmate have established an actual connection strong enough to have conversations. Lance decided that he treasured it more than anything else in the world.

His head was never a quiet place, it was a fact he accepted at a young age. He learned around the age of six that ADHD ran in his family, so honestly, he wasn’t surprised when he started noticing the telltale signs of it creeping up on him with age.

His soulmate made him feel less alone through it all. They seemed to just  _ understand  _ his train of thought.

_ Vero keeps making coffee. Would it be weird if I asked for a cup? It smells so bad though. Hot chocolate sounds better. Wait nevermind- What did Madre tell me to do? Fill out applications? _

**_“Coffee is disgusting for your information; you’d be happier with hot chocolate. I’m pretty sure you were thinking about school applications last night.”_ **

_ Oh! You’re right... Think I left them on the counter... _

**_“Check your room first honestly. You were reading something off the papers before you went to bed.”_ **

It was simple conversations; nothing big. They never prodded each other about personal information like names or ages or anything like that. Maybe it was because Lance was a little too nervous to initiate asking, and seeing as his soulmate had failed to ask either, he thought that was for the best.

Lance had been finishing up his Galaxy Garrison application, feeling a little more energetic than he had in a while.

_ I think this is the riskiest thing I’ve ever done in my life. _

**_“I doubt that, but go on.”_ **

_ What if I don’t get accepted? That’s going to be such a bummer. I don’t know of another school like this- but like- do I really want to go to a stuffy boarding school. _

**_“I go to a boarding school too- Or, at least I’ll actually be attending next year. It’s not too bad. You’ll like it.”_ **

_ You think so? I really hope so. First I have to get accepted and all that jazz and what if I don’t- _

**_“Hey. Calm down... You’re going to get accepted, I promise.”_ **

_ But how can you be sure? _

**_“I just know you will be. Trust me. When have I been wrong.”_ **

_ That one time, when I asked you how to spell hippopotamus for an English test- _

**_“That was two years ago.”_ **

_ But still. _

Lance thinks that their connection has been like this for the past year or so. They would have quick and simple conversations; ask each other how their day went, what they were doing when they were bored. Every once in a while he’d ask his soulmate for some help in his English class while his soulmate would ask him about Spanish.

It just worked. They clicked well; or at least, Lance thought they did. Especially seeing as they had been having conversations every single day without a name.

This continued on for another month or two; this stable connection that they had.

When  _ it _ had happened, it was mid-November and the first snow of the year. Lance hadn’t heard from his soulmate in at least a few days. He had been sitting at his desk in his Spanish class watching the snowflakes through the window of the school when he tried reaching out.

_ Hey, soulmate. It’s been a few days. _

He paused, holding a breath.

_ Are you doing alright? _

Their last conversation wasn’t bad, he remembers that. His soulmate had reached out first, ecstatic about a new movie coming out about wizards. He said he and his father were going to watch it this weekend, which now, would have been three days ago.

_ How was that movie you talked about the other day? _

Without warning, the coldest chill he had ever felt bloomed in his chest, practically pulling all the breath out of his lungs.

**_“Leave me alone.”_ **

He was stunned; his eyes widening in an instant and hands clenching so hard he knew there would be imprints of his fingernails left in the soft pads of his palms. Did he say something to his soulmate to upset him? Trying his best to remember the past few conversations they had; nothing popped up. He didn’t even remember having any weird or bad thoughts that could have been misinterpreted.

_ I- I’m sorry. _

He feels himself swallow.

_ Did I do something? _

There’s silence. For the first time in the past two years his mind is empty.

_ I don’t know what I did or if I did anything- but if I really did upset you, I’m so sorry... I would never purposely try and hurt or upset you. _

**_“Stop reaching out to me. Your voice is the last thing I want to hear. ”_ **

He can’t help the stinging that starts behind his eyes.

Maybe his soulmate was just having a bad day. Maybe they’d be in a better mood tomorrow.

So, Lance listens to them. He doesn’t try to reach out for the rest of the day. Before going to bed, he prays to whatever god that’s listening that his soulmate will feel better tomorrow, and tucks himself into bed with a clenched jaw.

Needless to say; his soulmate didn’t reach out the next day, or the day after that, or the day after that one either. Lance didn’t even try to bother until it was the next weekend.

_ Hey. I know you said to not reach out but I’m worried. _

He was at home, sitting on the floor of his living room with Vero as she talked about wanting to apply for the same boarding school as him for the rest of her high school years.

_ If I did something can you please tell me so I can apologize? Or at least tell me what’s wrong? _

Another cold, cold chill bloomed in his chest; reaching down to both his fingertips and his toes.

**_“Can you catch a hint when someone practically throws it into your face? Or are you just that dense, man? I said I don’t want to talk to you anymore. Leave me alone. Stop reaching out. I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want you.”_ **

So, at twelve years old, Lance sat in his living room, crying on the shoulder of his older sister wondering what he did wrong to be shut out like this by someone.

***

“I know that you’re thinking,” Keith starts slowly. “I understand if you hate me, but-”

“If  _ I _ hate  _ you? _ I don’t know about you, man, but it kinda seemed like  _ you _ hated  _ me. _ ” Lance doesn’t mean to say it as bitterly as he does, but it comes out as an icy chill anyway. Picking his head up from his hands he meets Keith’s eyes.

The other’s mouth was slightly opened, as if he were about to make a rebuttal. But as quick as it had opened, he’s snapping his mouth shut again, simply nodding.

“I know what it seems like- I  _ get _ what it felt like. I never meant to hurt you though.”

Lance is laughing. He’s really laughing right now, and he doesn’t even know why. “Man, yeah it sure seemed like you weren’t trying to hurt me when you kept pushing me away when we were younger, and kept telling me you didn’t want me.” He’s pausing, feeling tears well up in his eyes. “But yeah I guess we tell all of those we don’t mean to hurt we don’t want them.”

Keith’s deflating, his hiked shoulders loosening and his face becoming soft. A rare expression that the Red Paladin ever wore.

“Lance-”

“Maybe you should just save it, really, I get it,” Lance is rushing to say as he wipes the forming tears from his eyes. “You really don’t need to explain it to me. I understand not everyone wants a soulmate- you didn’t want me- that’s ok.” 

He’s not sure why he’s lying through his teeth. Maybe it’s to make himself feel better, like he knew this all along. Or maybe to make Keith feel better about never wanting him in the first place, despite the fact Lance had always wanted him.

It was foolish, he thought. As a kid he pictured sweeping his soulmate off their feet and treating them like the sunshine.

He cherished their small conversations as a kid. 

He enjoyed the company.

He loved the thought that someone in this universe was made to finish him.

Even after accepting that his soulmate didn’t want him, Lance  _ tried  _ to “move on,” and by moving on he found interest in someone else; who just so happened to still be his soulmate.

Lance is moving to get up now, fast with determination.

“We’ll find a way to sever the connection, it’s not a problem.”

Just before he can even take a step away from Keith, the other is lunging at him, grabbing at his forearm.

“That is  _ not _ what I was coming to talk to you about, Lance.”

***

It’s been a few weeks since his soulmate told him he didn’t want him.

His family told him it was okay; that they wanted him. They told him that sometimes not all soulmates worked out. They told him he would be okay.

He felt the furthest from okay.

He was sitting in detention, just a week away from Christmas break. Some kid had made a comment about how quiet he was being in class, for once, and without a second thought, he had turned around and whirled a pencil right at their forehead.

_ At least my aim was good. _

Sitting in detention, shoes scuffing across the floor, he was growing angrier and angrier as the minutes passed.  _ This _ was all his soulmate's fault. He wouldn’t be in such a distraught mood had his soulmate actually just communicated with him instead of shutting him out like some barn animal.

_ You know, this is so unfair. I still don’t understand what I did to you, dude. _

He doesn’t get a response.

For the first time ever, he admits something to himself he never thought he would admit.

_ I hate soulmates. _

As weeks of silence turn into months, Lance tries accepting the fact that it’s done. His soulmate will end up trying to sever their connection and he’ll be completely all alone.

He would try severing the connection himself if he didn’t have the smallest hope that his soulmate would change his mind and want him. It was such a pathetic thought, but still.

One February afternoon, the day before Valentine's day, Lance struggles to get off the bus and lug himself into the house. Veronica is already home waiting for him with a small smile.

“Hey Leandro. How did school go?”

“Stop calling me that, Veronica,” he groans, dropping his school bag in front of the door as he toes off his shoes.

“What? Stop calling you your name?” She scoffs.

_ She’s still the only one who calls me Leandro. _

“No one has called me Leandro since we moved into the states,” he sighs, prominently stomping into the living room where he hears his sister. He flips her the bird before throwing himself onto the couch across from her.

Just as his face hits the cushion, a cool draft overcomes him. It’s a lot warmer than he remembers it feeling.

**_“Your name’s Leandro?”_ **

He’s sitting up just as fast as he laid down, panic coursing through his body. Veronica jumps as well, staring him down with wide eyes.

“What? What’s wrong?” She quickly asks, but he ignores her.

So  _ now _ his soulmate wants to pop up? Unannounced asking about his name? What an absolute joke.

_ Leave me alone. _

His soulmate listened. They didn’t speak again for another four months.

***

Lance is staring down at Keith’s open expression when he feels the fiery feeling of adrenaline course through him. He yanks him arm away from Keith as if he’d been burned.

“What did you want to talk about, then?”

If he had any sense at all, he probably would have left Keith sitting there on the castle floor. He didn’t want anything to do with him right now. He wanted his space, and it seemed like the one time he’s really showing he didn’t want to be around him, Keith’s trying to throw himself at him.

In response, Keith clears his throat and retracts his arm against his chest. “It’s not that I don’t want you, that’s the furthest thing from the truth,” he begins, eyes adverting to the floor. “I was going through a lot then; and, trust me, I know that is no excuse for how I treated you, but I feel like you deserve to know that I do want this- you know- us... being soulmates...”

Lance just about scoffs at that.

“You really don’t need to pity me-”

“I’m not pitying you, Lance,” Keith is quick to bite out, head snapping up so they meet eyes again. He has that fiery determination in his eyes; the same look he would have diving head first into battle. “I’m being serious. I  _ do _ want to have you as a soulmate.”

Lance wants to roll his eyes, but with Keith’s eyes practically boring into his soul he feels frozen like ice.

“What...” He pauses, licking his lips. “What made you change your mind? About having a soulmate?”

“I didn’t want to push you away then, if anything I’m pretty sure you were the only thing I wanted then,” Keith hastily admits. “I was just scared.”

“Scared?” He parrots back.

“Yeah,” Keith nods, “scared. Scared of losing you too.”

***

“Leandro, the mail is here!” Veronica screamed from the bottom of the stairs. Without a second thought, Lance finds himself booking it down the rest of the spiral staircase, practically bodying Veronica when he reaches the bottom. With grabby hands, he snatches the letters from her hands.

“Give me that!” He all but hisses at her, already flipping through the letters, throwing the ones not addressed to him to the floor. He faintly hears Veronica scold him for making a mess, but he doesn’t pay her any mind.

_ It _ should be here today. The letter that will determine his future.

He’s been waiting for it for exactly a year now.

Finally, when he reaches the end of the stack of letters, written in bold letter is the one letter addressed to him.

**The Galaxy Garrison** **  
** **Leandro Charles McClain**

“It’s here,” he gasps, dropping the rest of the letters. Veronica in return sighs but urges him to open it.

Digging his thumb into the seal, he rips the top of the envelope off with ease. Eagerly pulling out the letter, he lets the envelope drop to the ground at his feet as well.

**We are pleased to inform you that you have been admitted to the Galaxy Garrison for the 2301-2302 academic year this September.**

He stares at the bold words for a second. And then another. And then his mouth drops.

“What! What? Tell me, did you get accepted?” Veronica urges from his side, and suddenly, he can’t contain the smile that overtakes his face.

_ I made it! I got accepted! _

He pushes the letter of acceptance into her hands with a shout. “I did it, Vero! I really did it!” 

She makes a similar shout, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. “Mami! He did it! Leandro got in!” Without a second thought, Veronica was pushing him away and booking it into the living room.

If Lance had been anymore distracted, he wouldn’t have noticed the overwhelming feeling of heat blossoming across his chest.

**_“I’m sorry.”_ **

And then, a pause.

**_“Congratulations; I knew you could do it.”_ **

***

Suddenly, Lance’s mouth feels very dry, as if he’d been walking in the desert all afternoon. “What do you mean lose me too?”

“That weekend,” Keith begins, finally standing up from his spot on the ground. “My father passed away unexpectedly in a fire. We never got to see that movie.”

Lance stares at him. He lets the new influx of information set in.

“My father was all I had growing up, seeing as my mother kind of just... disappeared. I was never good at coping and I took all my anger out on you. I was terrified of the thought of getting close to you and losing you too,” Keith slowly explains. “It’s no excuse for how I treated you, I understand that now. I knew even then what I was doing was wrong.

I was just really lost... Foster care was weird, having to uproot my life was weird. I just couldn’t straighten myself out fast enough, and when I finally did, it was too late. The damage was done.”

Lance feels a little upset for being mad at Keith all those years ago; but he understands there was just no way for him to know what he was going through, especially when Keith had refused to talk then.

“When you got accepted into- well, now I know, The Garrison, I had to reach out. Ever since then I knew that I still wanted you as a soulmate. It was just right in my head, you know? The pieces fit together.

After getting shot up here in space I tried my hardest to not project my thoughts. I didn’t want to worry you- You had already been through so much and I just thought it was wrong... I guess I should have known it was you this whole time.”

Lance lets out a breath of relief. “How would you have known this whole time, Mullet?”

“For one, you still can’t spell properly.”

“Hey-!”

“And secondly, you still have that very caring nature I remember my soulmate having. You’re selfless to an extent- always willing to take the blame to try and fix things.”

Lance is about to object, but he knows he can’t hide the truth. He shrugs instead. “I wanted us to be okay, you know. I cared about you- a lot. I still care about you- whether you’re my soulmate or the handsomely annoying red paladin.”

“Handsome?”

“Oh, don’t give me that,” Lance deadpans. “You know you’re good looking.”

Keith shrugs at that, a small smile pulling at his lips. “I don’t know about that...”

With a shuddered breath, Lance finds himself crashing forward, wrapping his arms around Keith’s middle. The other is hesitant to return the touch, but when he does, he’s holding Lance like his life depends on it.

“I’m so sorry,” Keith mumbles into the crook of Lance’s neck. “I’ll make it up to you.”

Lance chuckles, brushing away a few strands of Keith’s hair from his cheek.

“One step at a time, samurai.” And with that, Lance leaves the smallest of kisses onto Keith’s jaw bone.


End file.
